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July 29, 2012

Tis the perfect time of year to want to pick up some camping themed scrap goodies! Paper Pals currently has a really cute line from BoBunny called "Camp-a-Lot"... and it was a lot of fun to work with.

While we may not have time to scrap our summer camping and lake adventures, it's good to buy the product now when you know what great photos you've taken.

I had some photos printed from our past camping and lake adventures and made several great layouts with them.

For this two page layout, I fit two photos onto 4x6 photo prints so that I'd be able to fit more shots onto a layout. It was fun to use the pattern paper's design on this two page layout.

I really liked the chipboard punchouts as accents for this page of my daughter's first summer camp experience. They fit just perfectly! We even bought more accents like this for her to use with her own scrapbook of her 5th grade camp experience this spring.

I liked the designs on a couple of the busy pattern papers with this line-- but a whole 12x12 page of them was too much for one layout. Here I used punches to highlight some of the designs in two different page borders.

And a couple of simple cards using the adorable chipboard cutouts again. Quick and easy, but still really cute.

July 22, 2012

Amy Tangerine's Sketchbook line for American Crafts is just delightful! As you can see from the things I made for Paper Pals Design Team, this line can span seasons, convey many sentiments, and make a wonderful mini book or home decor item!

When I began to contemplate the perfect photos for these projects, I went directly to my "summer fun" photos. Nothing quite worked for me. Then I remembered my kids in the fall leaves! I love how the gold leaves in the photo work with the spunky colors of the in the paper. And who would think to add lime green, turquoise, and magenta to "leaves" paper (Amy Tangerine - aka genius)! I love the look of this. The papers, (both 12 x 12 and mini-papers) work so well together that I just layered and layered and layered to get this look! The line also has sweet embellishments in the form of tags,paper clips, and stickers that really give this product line and your projects wonderful pop! Add some Diamond Glaze and glitter, and ribbon and you'll love what you come up with!

The 6 x 6 papers just spoke "mini book" to me! You should stop into the store and take a look at the subject matter of my mini book and have a good laugh with me (and fellow PPDT member, Angela Lenssen (aka our photography for the family photo shoot last fall. Consider this your own personal scavenger hunt!

And, last but not least, this line is perfect for cards of course. You can use the sticker sheets and scraps, ribbon, Diamond Glaze, and glitter to create lovely, heartfelt sentiments to give to family or friends!

July 8, 2012

I learned a tip from Stacy Julian a few years ago and have used it over and over. Here is her explanation:

"As I revisit old pictures that I have placed in "cold storage" (photos that she hasn't scrapbooked), I decided to pull out my 2" square punch and start punching out the faces of my children and others. Within a few minutes, I knew I was on to something--I knew I would enjoy having a collection of thumbnail-type images always at my fingertips. This newest addition to my Library of Memories lineup is a fun way to get mileage out of unused photos, and it's a great place to fish for cropped pictures of the people I love."

I use a little plastic box with 6 plastic storage containers to store the photos. It works out great since I have 6 grandchildren!!

I have found lots of uses for these little square pictures, and one of my favorite uses is making birthday cards!

And, this one

I also love to use these little 2X2 photos in scrapbook layouts:

Footnote: My 2" square punch is one of my favorite "go to" tools when I scrapbook or make cards, I couldn't get along without it!!

July 6, 2012

Where do I begin? I love Smash books so much!!!! My life has been such a whirlwind this last year! These smash-books have been amazing. I just made two pockets the first month and shoved all kinds of stuff in them. I put my calendar and things-to-do list, my grocery list, notes from my kids, tags from things I loved, tickets, receipts and a score card from when my mom and I played yahtzee. I didn't do much art, I didn't have time for journaling...nevertheless, it was a giant slice of life. I just stuffed stuff in. Sometimes I taped in pictures and glue sticked my lists to the other side and layered the pictures to fit them in. For variety, I made a theme and cut out patterned paper to match and stuck lists and pictures on the opposite sides of them, For February I just made 2 big pockets and stuffed our families home made valentines in there. This last page my daughter did a drawing and I continued to stuff things in on the other side, I want to get wallet size photos and put them in on the page with the drawing. May was so busy I didn't even think about this book. But I saves all kinds of nifty stuff in a zip lock bag and I will stuff it in this month. I can't wait. I also got a large sized Smash Book for the summer. I get all tingly thinking about the possibilities!

I love this paper @ paper pals, I found I could use it for pictures that are of our family at the beach, but I also found the paper to be beautifully adapted to most any theme. I loved the way the colors both coordinate and create contrast. I love how the patterns are so different and yet go so well together. I had a lot of fun making waves out of this paper. I hope I didn't break any rules!